Tag: acl fest

We arrived along with the fire trucks, ambulances and Haz-Mat team, but went in anyway. By the time we were through the gates, the fire was out and the four injured workers were on their way to the hospital.

This year’s ACL schedule is short on artists that I really want to see, which is kind of cool because it opens me up to making discoveries. I am not among those wailing and gnashing their teeth because the White Stripes canceled at the last minute.

We started with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, whose music is impossibly upbeat and funky. Definitely the best banjo-sax-bass-synthaxe drumitar combo around. They wound their set down with a very cool cover of The Beatles “Come Together,” making them the only live act I’ve ever heard cover The Beatles.

From there, we went to the WaMu tent where over the past years I’ve learned to really appreciate old-school funk and gospel. Oftentimes, these bands are the most fun to hear live. The Dynamites with Charles Walker were no exception.

We caught some of Joss Stone’s set on one of the big stages and then went back to WaMu for some of Big Sam’s Funky Nation and then back for the rest of Stone’s set. She was good, polished and powerful and clearly having a good time. Hard to believe she’s just 19.

I walked past MIA’s angry-ranting-over-beats (some kind of political hip hop) and caught most of Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective’s set while waiting in Hoffbrau Steakhouse’s line. They were quite good, riding a spirited Brizilian native music meets funk kind of vibe that made waiting in line really easy.

Austin’s own™ Spoon played a decent set that was far more interesting than when I heard them at ACL five years ago. After Spoon, we saw Gotan Project, whose Argentina-by-way-of-France sound combined DJs and electronic instruments with tango-style guitar and concertina work to sound like something you might find on a Thievery Corporation record. Gotan was definitely the highlight of the day. I suspect I’ll be checking out their CDs in the near future.

We left Gotan to hear Reverend Horton Heat. I’ve seen the reverend far more times than I can remember, but it’s been a while. I’ve always loved the way he plays guitar, and it was a treat to hear him open with a string of my favorites including “Big Sky,” “Baddest of the Bad,” and “Five-0 Ford.” It was like ’94 all over again.

After rocking out with Rev. Heat, we caught the last of Gotan’s set and settled in for headliner Björk. I had never heard her or her previous outfit The Sugarcubes. What I heard was haunting, often beautiful, and definitely something I would check out on CD, but at the end of the day, my hunger and desire to be on my way were more powerful than her and her green laser that twisted out over Zilker park.

Overall, it was a fun day and thankfully the weather wasn’t bad. It was hot at times, but never unbearable. The only regret is that I wish I had stayed and caught more of Blonde Redhead’s set. I heard the first part as I was walking by, and they sounded good. I’ll have to check out their recordings sometime.

Selections from the 2006 Austin City Limits Music Festival are now available on iTunes. The only acts I saw that are available are The Tragically Hip and The String Cheese Incident.

The sound at the Hip’s set wasn’t too good. Mostly the vocals were buried too far in the mix, and the iTunes selections reflect that, though the guitars sound great. There are seven Hip tracks available, the best being “100th Meridian” and “Courage,” which is about how I remembered the set. If you like The Tragically Hip, you’ll want these two at least. The rest are good, coming off better than they sounded in person.

I only downloaded one String Cheese track – “The New Pollution,” which was as good as I remember it being. Also available are Matisyahu, Gomez, Son Volt, Flaming Lips and a few others. Why, oh why, did they not record Calexico. I’ll never forget how good they sounded on “All Systems Red” and “Not Even Stevie Nicks…”

Still, it’s nice to relive a great weekend.

Most of my ACL time this year was been spent seeing bands that I already knew and liked, but on Sunday, all I saw were artists that I had previously never heard. Amazingly, not a single one disappointed. For me, those discoveries are the best part of ACL.

We started our day with Austin’s The Black Angels. I hadn’t heard them before, but their mesmerizing psychedelic drone hooked us right away. The guitars shimmered throughout their set that at times evoked such artists as The Doors and early Velvet Underground.

Afterwards we checked out Finland’s Husky Rescue. Three very serious looking guys dressed in black backed up the charming singer who wore a red dress and some fabulous boots. The music was mellow and kind of quirky in a way that reminded me of early Talking Heads but it flowed like Air while the singer’s ethereal vocals floated on top. It was a fun set that had us all smiling.

The weather was nice when we arrived. Cool and overcast, but the sun started to come out and make things steamy as we headed over to see Damian “Jr Gong” Marley, another of Bob Marley’s progeny. Damian looks very much like his father and the set was groovy as reggae should be. We left while they were playing a very cool version of “Exodus” which seemed appropriate.

Afterwards we went to Waterloo for the traditional purchasing of CDs by bands we’d discovered. We picked up CDs by The Black Angels and Husky Rescue both of which sound as cool on CD as they do live.

Despite leaving, ACL wasn’t over for us. A friend had managed to secure tickets to an Austin City Limits taping of Sufjan Stevens followed by The Raconteurs at the KLRU studios. These are hard to come by so it was a real treat to finally – after eighteen years in Austin – get to see a taping.

The studio is very small, there couldn’t have been more than 200 people in there, and they serve free beer so we were all pretty happy when Stevens started his show. I’d never heard him before but I was highly impressed. He was backed by a full orchestra all of whom wore giant butterfly wings. Wearing gigantic bird wings, Stevens played a haunting set that fully captivated the audience.

The Raconteurs came on next. They rocked. I hadn’t heard them before either, but I was impressed with their sound and intensity. I don’t know when these episodes will air, but both of them will certainly be worth watching.

Finally seeing an ACL taping and getting to see two such talented acts was truly the perfect way to end yet another awesome ACL weekend.

We arrived late on Friday, but caught the second half of Nickel Creek’s set. They were pretty on, a group of very talented musicians who clearly love their work. The amplified tap dance routine was amazing. Who needs a drummer when you can tap?

After Nickel Creek, we cruised over to check out Thievery Corporation. We saw them last year on a smaller stage, but they were on the big boy stage this year. We were pretty far away, but I got this shot of their set:

Obviously, the view from where we were wasn’t great, but the sound was good and the energy level was high. Thievery Corp are at the core two DJs with killer taste in world music, but their live sets include bass, sitar, percussion, and several vocalists doing ambient, rap, reggae and a host of other styles.

After Thievery, we caught the Tragically Hip:

Tragically Hip are one of my all time favorite bands and I’ve seen them a number of times. Unfortunately, their sound was off. The vocals were too hot, a shame considering singer Gordon Downie’s performances are full of his off-the-cuff stream-of-conciousness explorations, which are one of the things that makes seeing the Hip so fun. With the vocals so hot, the music sounded buried and muddy.

Still, “Courage” and “100th Meridian” came through just fine and were highlights of their set. Downie also dedicated “Ahead by a Century” to “Annie Richards,” a gesture which seems truly appropriate considering that she really was ahead by at least a century if not more.

Rounding it out, the heat wasn’t as bad as previous years, the grass was in good shape so dust wasn’t a problem, and despite the crushing crowds you have to deal with when the music you like suddenly becomes popular, it was a pretty good day.

I love ACL Fest and that time of year is now upon us. I have a schedule of bands that I want to see, but there’s plenty of room for discovery as well. Discovering artists I’d previously never heard is the best part.

There is one conflict for me. Massive Attack or Willie Nelson? I’ve seen Willie twice (once this year) so I’ll probably check out Massive Attack, assuming they have their visa issue squared away. If not, I’ll happily see Willie again.

Today’s Austin 360 featured an article about key schedule conflicts. Here’s my take:

In the matter of Tragically Hip vs. Ray LaMontagne, I will see the Hip. They’re one of my favorite acts and I haven’t missed a Hip show in Austin in nearly ten years. I will not, however be sporting a hockey jersey.

In the matter of Nada Surf vs. TV on the Radio, I will probably check out TV on the Radio, but I’m not familiar with either band.

In the matter of Tom Petty vs. going home early on Sunday, I will probably go home early. I usually do. I stuck around for REM in 2003, but it just made feel old.

My other picks:

Friday: The Greyhounds, Ghandaia, Nickel Creek, Del Castillo, Thievery Corporation, Tragically Hip

Saturday: Pierre Guimard, Federico Abele, Galactic, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Raconteurs, Willie Nelson or Massive Attack

Sunday: The Black Angels, Husky Rescue, Buckwheat Zydeco, New Orleans Social Club

The weather looks like it will be nice: hot, but in the low nineties it should be bearable.

Check out my wife’s blog for some good ACL Fest survival tips.

The 2006 ACL Fest lineup is out. I’m pleased with the list. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the Sunday night headliner. I like them when I hear them, but since we usually leave during the last set on Sunday night, I’m glad the headliner is one I won’t feel bad about walking away from if exhaustion proves once again more powerful than music.

Other acts I’m looking forward to seeing: Massive Attack, The Tragically Hip, Galactic, Thievery Corporation, Calexico, Willie Nelson (who’s finally playing ACL!), Buckwheat Zydeco, Nickel Creek, and Son Volt.

The best thing about ACL Fest, though, is the number of acts I discover there. There are many on the list that I’ve never heard before so I’m sure I’ll be making quite a few discoveries.

My lovely wife emailed me today to tell me that ACL Fest tickets are on sale and that she got ours. The schedule hasn’t been released yet, but it’s always worth it to buy the tickets early before the prices shoot up when the schedule is made public.

This will be our fourth ACL Fest. It seems it’s become something of a tradition for us and our friends. We all take four days off and hit the festival on Friday afternoon and use Monday to recover. Friends come up from the coast (last year evacuated was a more appropriate word) and we listen to music and eat out and just enjoy living in Austin.

The best thing about the festival is discovering so much great music. Half the artists I see, I’ve never heard of before, but I often go out and buy their CDs after the shows. Plus, I love that it’s so civilized as far as big outdoor festivals go. The food is great, most of it provided by Austin’s local restaurants. The facilities are clean. The people are not obnoxious. And of course Zilker Park is just a nice place to be. Sometimes the heat can be miserable. 108F on Sunday last year, for instance. But by Spetember most people around here are kind of used to that. Besides it can be nice in September.

Anyways, the main purpose of this entry is just as a place for me to record the bands I saw in previous years since part of the reason for this blog is to help me remember things, and I wasn’t blogging back then, but if you want an idea of who’s been there in the past, check it out. That’s what’s below the fold. I’ll be adding to the lists if I remember anything.